Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
Aim
The aim was to develop, in a collaborative partnership with clinical
colleagues and other stakeholders, a new and innovative degree
programme that is responsive to future workforce needs.
The reasons for developing a new nursing degree programme could
be summarised as:
� Meeting the changes in the health services e.g. the Primary
Health Care Strategy and establishment of Primary Health
Organisations.
� In response to the recommendations of the KPMG review of
undergraduate nursing education in New Zealand in 2001.
� To strengthen the collaborative approach to nursing education in
line with the directions of the Tertiary Education Strategy of New
Zealand.
� To achieve more integration of pathophysiology and
pharmacology.
� To generate more socio-political awareness amongst nurses.
� To have a futuristic focus.
Method
The Department of Nursing and Health Studies at the Manukau
Institute of Technology decided to enter into a collaborative
arrangement with the future employers of their graduates. Its
Charter commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi, which underpins the
concept of cultural safety, was an important aspect in its
development. The Department already worked in partnership with
Tangata Whenua and Te Komiti Kawa Whakaruruhau to ensure
culturally appropriate education for Maori. Because of the strong
Pacific Island community in South Auckland, the Department also
actively recruited and encouraged Pacific Island staff and students
to participate. This was the first step towards a collaborative
partnership in developing the new programme (Department of
Nursing and Health Studies 2005) and was demonstrated by the
fact that the concept contained in the Charter permeates the
Bachelor of Nursing programme.
Baker et al. (1998, pp.1-2) identified some of the changes that
happened in nursing education, by stating that nurses will have to
reflect on a broader definition of health, while simultaneously
becoming more involved in their educational processes, having to
think along the lines of prevention and care management, and
aiming at improving the health of the entire population and not only
the individual. In order to achieve this they asked the following
questions: “What knowledge and skills are needed to accomplish
these goals? How can health profession education programs better
prepare their graduates to meet these challenges?”
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